Is capitalism a spiritual failure?

On a recent visit to the UK, Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hahn Thay talked about the "disease" of capitalism . "We have constructed a system we cannot control. It imposes itself on us, and we become its slaves and victims." Consumer capitalism, in particular, is detrimental to our spiritual health, he argues, and globalisation is the wave on which it has spread it across the world. Is he right? Is there nothing to be thankful for in the way our economy has developed? And can religion offer a refuge from its excesses? Monday's response Ramesh Rao: Thay is right: spirituality dies when capitalism is the guiding force in society – and there is no magic solution Wednesdays' response Jo Confino: Increasing numbers of people in the west recognise that capitalism as it is now does not answer our core needs Thursday's response Aaron Taylor: For Orthodox Christians like me, the chief good, and with it the essential nature of man, is non-material Friday's response John Redwood: Capitalism allied to democracy takes care of the basics of life, and then you are at liberty to do and believe what you wish